NEW LAW CREDITED FOR 124 FEWER METH LABS IN OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma had 124 fewer methamphetamine labs during the
first six months of the year, thanks to a new state law that restricts
sales of common cold remedies that contain the illegal drug's key
ingredient, officials said Monday.

The dramatic drop in meth labs saved Oklahoma taxpayers $434,000 in
cleanup costs for removing the hazardous materials used to produce the
drug, said Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of
Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.

It costs the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation an average of
$3,500 to clean up a single meth lab, Woodward said.

"I can't even put a number on the man hours spent at a lab," Woodward
said. "It's saving millions of dollars ultimately."

OSBI investigated a total of 386 meth labs statewide between January
and June, Woodward said. During the same period last year, the agency
investigated 510 meth labs. The numbers do not include labs
investigated by city police departments in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

OSBI investigated a total of 50 labs last month, an increase from 29
in May but far below the 90 labs investigated in March.

The decline followed passage of legislation this spring that banned
store sales of popular medications like Sudafed and Claritin-D that
contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine.

The medications may still be sold in pharmacies, where they must be
kept behind the counter and sold only to people who present photo
identification and sign for the medicine.

Gov. Brad Henry signed the legislation into law on April 7 and it did
not become fully effective for another 60 days.

The measure received bipartisan support from state lawmakers
determined to slow what some said was a meth epidemic in the state,
which reported 1,236 labs in 2003. It is the only measure of its kind
in the nation.

Woodward said authorities are directing their attention to large-scale
sales of pseudoephedrine in border towns outside Oklahoma, where store
sales of cold medications are still legal.

Law enforcement authorities in Texas have reported an increase in the
number of people crossing the state line from Oklahoma to buy products
containing pseudoephedrine.

Last week, four Oklahomans were indicted by a federal grand jury for
conspiracy to travel from Enid to Kansas to purchase 9,000
pseudoephedrine tablets with the intent to make methamphetamine.

State investigators are mapping the location of new meth labs,
especially those in eastern Oklahoma, to determine whether ingredients
are being brought in from out of state.

Woodward said initial results indicate a lot of pseudoephedrine
medications are coming from convenience stores in Fort Smith, Ark., on
the state line with Oklahoma.

"It emphasizes the importance for surrounding states to also pass this
law," he said. "If we can get some of these other states on board,
that's going to really, really help."